The Politics of Saints

After Edith of Wilton died (c.984), canonization was a slow process (for the time; canonization these days in the Roman Catholic Church has more stringent requirements). One of the issues may have been that, although she chose to remain in Wilton Abbey her whole life, and at the age of two chose religious objects over fine clothing and jewelry, he life was not the same as a humble servant of God.

She wore clothing befitting a princess, had a special metal container for heating bath water, and a collection of exotic animals provided by her father, King Edgar. She also kept contact with her father that enabled her to use his influence in various ways. Goscelin of Canterbury wrote that her influence with her father was so profound that people from other countries and Rome would visit her, bringing her gifts for her growing zoo and asking for help with the king.

Christianity and politics were deeply entwined: kings were believed to rule by divine right, and Christian counsel was sought by rulers. Having a saint in the family was a good sign, so it makes sense that, 13 years after her death, her half-brother Æthelred pushed her canonization with the support of St. Dunstan.

Even King Cnut, who conquered half of England from Æthelred's son, Edmund II, supported her sainthood, perhaps as a way to ingratiate himself to the Wessex royalty, although marrying Æthelred's widow might have been sufficient. Cnut claimed that Edith appeared and saved him from a storm at sea.

Edith's "miracles" were not of helping people with curing illness, but of appearances in visions, and often, shall we say, self-serving. Prior to canonization, she appeared to people urging them to support her elevation to sainthood. Afterward, when a Wilton nun tried to take one of her relics, a headband, Edith's head appeared to warn her off.

Of course, all of this comes from Goscelin of Canterbury, writing several decades after her death. We should take a closer look at him, not time.

Saint Edith

Imagine being a toddler, being raised by your mother in a convent, and then discovering that you are a royal princess. I cannot imagine how that must have affected Edith of Wilton (c.961 - c.984) growing up.

Her mother was Wulfthryth, who was taken from the nunnery at Wilton Abbey by King Edgar the Peaceable, who initially wanted Wulfthryth's sister, Wulfhild. After bearing him a daughter, Wulfthryth decided to return to the nunnery, taking her daughter and leaving Edgar to find another wife (which he did in Ælfthryth).

There is a later story that, when Edith was two, her father came to Wilton and laid before her royal clothing and jewelry, while her mother presented her with religious objects. Edith supposedly reached for the religious objects, displaying her devotion to religion. This story is likely apocryphal, but Edith did, in fact, devote her life to religion. It is also said that, when she was 15, Edgar offered to make her an abbess and gave her a choice of three convents, but she chose to remain at Wilton for the rest of her life.

A saint's life written a century later by Goscelin of Canterbury suggests that Edgar was a supporter of his daughter, his former wife, and the Abbey. Goscelin describes her as wearing very grand clothing at the Abbey, annoying the other residents. Her choice of these royal garments was tested when a candle fell on the chest containing them; the chest burned, but the clothing inside was unharmed.

Edith may have remained a secular member of Wilton and not become a nun. She seems to have lived a grand life. Edgar sent her two foreign tutors, gave her clothing, financed the re-building of the convent with a chapel designed by Edith, and Edith occasionally visited her father's court. Edith also had a private zoo of exotic animals at the convent.

In 984, she built a chapel dedicated to the 3rd-century Saint Denis. The dedication ceremony was performed by St. Dunstan, who predicted that Edith would die in three weeks. She did. At the moment of her death, a nun at Wilton saw ranks of angels singing in the abbey church.

After her death, there were only a few miracles attributed to her, so the progress to canonize her was slow, but she was eventually named a saint by her brother King Æthelred II 13 years after her death.

Of course the stories, especially written long after her death and relying on legends told by the abbey, cannot be taken at face value. There was a great deal of politics to be found in acknowledging certain saints. Tomorrow I want to talk about Edith's sainthood and what it meant to the king.